Deceitful Appearances
by N. Harmonik
Summary: 'SU Sonicverse' When the baby hedgehog robot Hip was destroyed, Manic took it hard. Will he be able to take it when he finds out that the robot was based on a real live baby hedgehog...that's still alive?
1. Mourning, Noon and Nightshade

Finally finished and revised. I dedicate this to Ben Hurst, writer of Sonic SatAM and Underground episodes, who left for sunnier pastures a short while ago.

Deceitful Appearances

By N. Harmonik

Nightshade and specific Chao characters copyrighted to me. Chao in general and other characters copyrighted to SEGA and/or DiC.

WARNING: Major spoilers for "Three Hedgehogs and a Baby"

[...]: Translated Chao language.

Ijja: Untranslatable Chao word that means both "he" and "she."

Luw: Untranslatable Chao word that means both "him" and "her."

Remember; Chao don't have genders so their language wouldn't need gender-specific pronouns.

Chapter 1: Mourning, Noon and Nightshade

Manic sat gloomily on a stone with his head cupped in his hands. The green hedgehog punk simply stared ahead, taking no notice of the gently flowing river sparkling in front of him or the laughter of the children who lived in this place: Sanctuary.

The prince felt a rush of anger. Sanctuary: the place where the Freedom Fighters raised their children; and the place the evil tyrant of Mobius, Dr. Robotnik, had tried to destroy just a few short minutes ago. How dare he!

But Manic's anger quickly turned into sadness when he thought of the means Robotnik used to try to find Sanctuary. He sighed.

"Manic?" A female voice tentatively called out. He turned around.

His sister, Sonia, a purple hedgehog with pink spikes, warily approached him, a concerned look on her face. "Are you alright, Manic?"

"I'm fine, just leave me alone." He turned back to look in the general direction of the river, staring into space.

Red and purple leotards and a skirt interrupted Manic's view of the river. He looked up to see Sonia staring down at him. "Manic Hedgehog, don't lie to me," she said in a firm, but kind tone. "I know what – or rather who – you're thinking about."

Manic looked down at his red and grey sneakers and recalled the last several hours.

He, Sonia and his brother, Sonic, had gone to the grimy, polluted city of Robotropolis on a mission and had come upon a blue, baby hedgehog abandoned in a "basket" in an alley. They, of course, had taken him back to their home. While Sonic and Sonia attempted to find the infant's parents, Manic got, much to his annoyance, stuck with babysitting. The baby had cried so much, Manic was just about fed up with him but the child had somehow won his heart over. After taking him for a ride on his red and yellow hoverboard and teaching him to play the drums (sort of), Manic had named the child Hip Hedgehog.

Sonic and Sonia had returned soon after with no success in finding anyone who was missing an infant hedgehog. After playing a song to make Hip happy, Sonic and Sonia had left again for a different mission. Manic decided, despite his siblings' claims that it would be too dangerous, to take Hip to Sanctuary all by himself on his hoverboard. En route, he had been attacked by a whole battalion of Swatbots and Hip fell from his basket (which turned out to be Dingo transformed). Though Manic had rushed to save him, he wasn't quite fast enough due to the height.

He didn't know which was worse: not being able to save Hip or finding out, upon him crashing into the ground and exploding, that Hip was in fact a robot created to lure Robotnik's forces to Sanctuary.

Sonia sat down next to Manic and tried to find words that would comfort him. "Listen, Manic. I…I know that you miss Hip and…and that you loved him..."

Manic stood up and stomped his foot hard. "I don't care!" He sounded angry but he had tears running down his face. "That was the lowest thing Robotnik's ever done It's not fair! (sniff) And this place...we could have…we…we could have… (sob)" He collapsed back onto his seat. His sister started to say something.

"Ahem."

Sonia and Manic turned around.

Sonic, a blue hedgehog in red and white sneakers, and a group of children were standing there. "Hey Bro, these kids wanna ask you something."

A small girl walked up to Manic shyly. "Um…Mr. Manic?"

The royal hedgehog wiped the tears from his face. "(sniff) Yeah?"

"Will you teach us how to play the drums?"

Manic blinked. "Huh?"

"Will you teach us how to play the drums?" repeated the girl.

He looked at her and the other children then he looked at Sonic, who gave him a thumbs-up, and Sonia, who nodded. Turning back to the children, Manic smiled a little. "Why not? Follow me."

"Hooray!" The children all followed Manic, giggling.

Sonia smiled at her other brother. "Thank you, Sonic."

He shrugged. "No problemo, Sis."

* * *

Dr. Robotnik was furious. The two hedgehog siblings he had in his grasp had escaped, the idiot Sleet had made Dingo grab Manic, making the robot fall out and get smashed, and the three hedgehogs had tricked his Swatbots and Sleet's ship into following them inside a cloud, causing them to crash into each other.

The obese orange-moustached human slammed a metal fist into his already heavily dented armrest. If Sleet and Dingo had survived (as they usually did), he was going to make them wish they hadn't when they got back. Thanks to them, those Sanctuary brats were going to continue to grow up to become Freedom Fighters.

A small robot that looked vaguely like a UFO with two spindly arms approached. "Sir, Mr. and Mrs. Pelier have been roboticized," it stated in a monotone. "However, before their son could be roboticized, an unidentified bat grabbed him and flew off."

"_What_?" Robotnik grabbed the robot and shook it. "How did it get in? Where is the bat now?"

"(bzzz) Method of infiltration: unknown. Location: (crackle) Sector 9. Stealthbots 41 through 44 currently (zap) in pursuit. Stealthbots 8 through 11 are on the way."

"Don't let them get away!" He threw the robot out the door.

Robotnik growled. He had used the Peliers' only child as a model to create a lifelike robot that would trick the hedgehogs into bringing him to Sanctuary. The reason why he had captured a family from a distant land, instead of one that lived in Robotropolis, was so that if the Sonic Underground went looking for the robot's parents, they would inevitably hear about a kidnapping if the family was local, come to rescue them and discover the trickery. However, since the Pelier family wasn't, the hedgehogs hadn't heard about them. Not that it did the dictator much good in the end.

He turned to his master control panel. "Monitor 1, show current footage of the bat."

The screen flickered on, showing a grey bat in his late teens in black khaki shorts, carrying a blue hedgehog baby, flying through alleyways trying to throw some flying, humanoid robots with tall, dome-shaped heads off his tail.

Robotnik grinned. Excellent; maybe something good would come out of this after all. Roboticizing someone always filled him with glee.

* * *

Nightshade wished his sound waves could bounce off of light; then he wouldn't have so many close shaves with lasers. The most he could do was to echolocate the laser rifles and get out of the area they were aimed at.

He glanced at the giggling babe in his arms, dodging another laser. Poor child, he didn't have any parents anymore. It was lucky for him that he, of all people, had been picked to go raid some supplies. What had Ronnie been thinking? He was a pacifistic daycare employee, not a fighter!

Nightshade checked on the kid again. Man, was he going to get it for this when he got back; correction, if he got back.

His sound waves suddenly picked up more of those flying robots directly in front of him. Nightshade looked up to see them coming straight towards him. Startled, he slowed down.

"Ahhh!" A sudden, searing pain made its presence known in his left wing. He curled up as he began plummeting towards the ground.

As if sensing the danger, the little hedgehog began fussing. Through a haze of pain, Nightshade heard his piteous cries and was brought out of his stupor with a wave of determination. Not even a damaged wing was going to set him back. He started gliding, somewhat erratically, towards the wall of one of the many buildings lining the alley, robots still in pursuit.

Nightshade landed on the fire escape of what used to be an apartment building, opened the nearby door and dashed inside.

After setting the baby down on the floor, who started to crawl around the room, Nightshade took off his backpack and began looking in it for something to bandage his wing. Taking a look at his surroundings, he noticed a few decrepit pieces of furniture, some old articles of clothing and a large fire burning inside a metal barrel in the room. Someone obviously lived here though that person was nowhere in sight at the moment.

He suddenly felt a large thud as the robots landed on the fire escape outside. Nightshade hastily picked up the baby.

Looking around the room again, Nightshade spotted something on the wall that gave him an idea.

* * *

The quick tapping of drumsticks on their appropriate instruments was the only sound that could be heard by those attending Manic's lesson. Even the people inside the wooden huts were listening. Twirling the drumsticks as fast as he could on the cymbals and pads of his drum set, Manic deftly did the thing he was best known for besides stealing.

Finally, he stopped and, with a smile on his face, told the children, "Now if you wanna learn that, you need to find some sticks and some flat rocks."

Laughing, the children ran off to get some. Sonic and Sonia, who had been watching, walked up to him.

Manic contentedly looked at the children as they disappeared from sight. "To think, I almost led those guys here."

Sonia placed a consoling hand on his red-vested shoulder. "You were just trying to do the right thing."

"You okay, Bro?" asked Sonic.

The sound of giggles accompanied the kids' return. As they came running, waving sticks and flat rocks, Manic's smile grew a little bigger and the weight in his chest, a little lighter.

"I am now."

* * *

Some soft snoring and footsteps were the only sounds that could be heard as Nightshade walked through the lighted tunnel, a sleeping hedgehog babe in his arms.

He hoped Ronnie wouldn't get too mad at him for using some of the sleeping powder he stole; it was either that or have their hiding place in the air duct given away. From long experience, Nightshade knew that infants did not like being too hot or cold, so he had fed the child in the air duct using a bottle and some milk that he had accidentally brought with him; after all, the heat from the fire in the barrel, which he had placed near the opening of the air duct to disguise their body heat, had been intense.

Though it had been a tight squeeze, the ruse had actually worked. The robots were fooled into thinking that there was no-one in the room so they left, allowing Nightshade to escape with the baby, much to his relief. It had been pretty tight in the air duct; he hated to see what it would have been like if he was…

[Oh Nightshade, there you are!]

The cry of relief and surprise brought Nightshade brought back to reality. Looking down, he saw the speaker, an almost-a-foot-high creature with a greenish-blue body and a tear-shaped head over which a small orb hovered. Beautiful peacock tail feathers and head crest adorned its body.

Nightshade smiled a little. "Hello, Pecan."

Behind the creature, which was a Chao, the tunnel ended in a spacious underground cavern, where his home, a village, was housed inside: Chaonalore. The houses were made out of rocks and mud and, in the streets, Chao of different shapes and colours walked or flew about with tiny wings on their daily business. On the high ceiling, large light fixtures shone, giving enough light for the trees and flowers that grew down here to live. Several streams wound their way through the village, entering and exiting the cavern through small tunnels at the bases of the walls.

Pecan started talking rapidly; so rapidly that Nightshade couldn't get a word in. [Look at your wing, it's injured! Oh this is all my fault! After you left, I reported back to Ronnie and ijja was furious because ijja wanted Night Snake, not you, Nightshade to go on that mission and I was so worried and ashamed and kicking myself for thinking that ijja meant you, especially since you're not very brave, no offence, and Night Snake is our best raider and…and…]

At this point, the peacock Chao noticed the blue hedgehog baby napping in Nightshade's arms.

Nightshade barely had time to indignantly ask, "What do you mean Night Snake was supposed to go instead of me?" before Pecan gasped and clasped fingerless hands to its mouth. [A hedgehog baby?]

At its loud statement, about a dozen Chao came flying to take a look. The small gathering attracted others and before long, Nightshade was surrounded on all sides by a small sea of many colours.

[Nightshade!] said a red Chao that had a draconic tail, wings and horns. [This is preposterous! I know you like young ones and all, but kidnapping one?]

"I had no choice! He was about to be…r…rr…ro…"

Ronnie gasped. [Roboticized?]

All the Chao shuddered. To them, the thought of being turned into something that wasn't living was appallingly horrific.

"Yes. I couldn't save his parents though."

[But doesn't he have any other living relatives?]

"I don't know but I'm going to take care of him until we find out."

[Take care of him? But Nightshade, this could be quite a burden! I know Chaodren love you but…]

[Yippee, it's Nightshade!]

A group of Chao children – called Chaodren – rushed over and gave Nightshade a huge hug, nearly causing him to topple over from the impact.

[What did you bring me?]

[Where were you?]

[Oooooh, what's that?]

Nightshade, noticing that the baby was waking up, thought fast. "I'll give you each a piece of candy if you get off me and be quiet for the next five minutes," he whispered.

Immediately, the Chaodren stopped chattering and got off their favourite person, hovering around him patiently.

Ronnie stared in amazement. [H-How did you get them to behave?]

"Um…you'd be surprised at what a few words can do."

[Oh. Well then, in that case, since these Chaodren are so well behaved, Nightshade, until we find a suitable replacement, this infant is your responsibility.]

Nightshade grinned. "Thank you, Ronnie." He walked off and the crowd dispersed.

The Chaodren, however, followed Nightshade, wishing that the five minutes would be up so that they could ask questions about the strange creature in his arms and get some candy.

Nightshade noticed them and started staring at the nearest one hard. Immediately, thoughts that were not his coursed through his mind.

After a few seconds, he stopped staring and felt a bit of his energy drain away.

"The five minutes are up now," he lied. "And, Alexis, I don't know the baby's name."

[Wow! Did you read my mind again?]

[Are you going to give luw a name?]

[Can we have our candy now?]

"Yes, no and wait until we get to the daycare."

[Hey, look! Ijja's awake!]

And so he was.

The infant reached over and grabbed his rescuer's finger. Nightshade smiled while the Chaodren watched with interest.

The bat pretended to tug as hard as he could and said playfully, "You let go right now or else."

The baby hedgehog cooed and let go…no, he wasn't really a hedgehog, not purely at least. His eyes were too small and his ears were on the side of his head rather then the top. Nightshade wondered why he didn't notice that before.

Nightshade started to tickle him. "Heheheheheh... If you're a pure hedgehog then I'm a real bat."


	2. Shock

Chapter 2: Shock

Several weeks later…

Sonia's angry voice cut across the room as she looked away from her mirror. "Sonic, Manic, keep it down! I can't concentrate."

Sonic and Manic looked up from their guitar and drums practice. "Concentrate? You have to concentrate to put on makeup?" laughed Sonic.

"Don't be such an S.A.P. (Spiny Annoying Princess), Sis," snickered Manic.

Sonia's glare couldn't be seen under the two slices of cucumber and mud she had covered her eyes and face with. "Look who's talking about being annoying!"

A male voice with a foreign accent interrupted her. "Maybe you two can do something else while Sonia is busy."

They turned to see Raphi Ajani, a teenage dog-like Mobian in a vest and small, cylindrical hat enter the room, silvery, robotic legs clanking on the floor.

They were relaxing at Raphi's house in Tashistan, a quaint town. The Sonic Underground had decided to rest and take a break for a few days in this place.

They had been there before to look for clues to whereabouts of their mother, Queen Aleena, the rightful ruler of Mobius, and had met Raphi, a member of the Resistance. They had barely saved him from getting roboticized. He didn't mind too much as he could now give a strong kick like Sonia.

"What else we can do besides…?" Sonic's voice trailed off. He sniffed the air and sighed happily. "Either I'm smelling things or a (slurp) chili dog stand just opened up nearby." His purple and yellow electric guitar disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared as a silver medallion around his neck. He hurried out the door.

However, as he ran out, he zoomed past a barrel full of pottery clay. It teetered for a moment then fell and spilled its contents all over Sonia. "Ack!"

Manic hastily stood up and turned his drum set into a medallion. He suddenly wasn't too keen on staying here now; when Sonia got dirty, she was just like a volcano about to erupt. "I-I'll just go boarding around town, okay? Um, I promise not to fly too high and get spotted!" He ran out, almost as fast as Sonic, grabbing his hoverboard along the way.

* * *

Poking half his body out from a hatch atop a red, flying, vaguely scorpion-shaped vehicle, a grey wolf in maroon and orange armoured garb scanned the town of Tashistan with his binoculars, looking fruitlessly for Sonic, Manic and Sonia, who were allegedly here.

The bounty hunter, Sleet, lowered his binoculars in frustration. "We'll never find the hedgehogs this way." He looked down into the cockpit. "Dingo, land in that clearing over there...and don't crash this time!"

Moments later, the vehicle started dropping like a rock. Sleet yelped and hung on for dear life, while down in the square below, people screamed and scattered. Just before it landed, wheels appeared under the vehicle and it slowed down a bit. It landed with a huge BANG, making Sleet lose his balance and fall off, smacking his head on the ground. Amazingly, there was no harm done to the vehicle itself.

An orange muscle-bound canine popped his head out where Sleet had been seconds before, eyes blinking stupidly behind tiny purple shades. When he saw Sleet lying on the ground, he grinned sheepishly. "Oops."

Sleet lifted his head, still seeing stars, and snarled, "You idiot!"

"Hey, at least I didn't crash."

Sleet got up and looked around. There were hardly any people in sight. "With all the commotion you made, the hedgehogs will be sure to…"

"Hey, Sleet, look!"

The bounty hunter looked in the direction Dingo was pointing and saw a grey bat with a blue hedgehog infant strapped to his back just as he disappeared from the square.

Sleet slapped his face. Dingo was dumb but this was ridiculous. "Sonic is a full-grown hedgehog, not a baby one!"

"Uh, I know that. But didn't that baby look like the one Robotnik, er, made a robot copy of a few months ago?"

Sleet's eyes widened. Of course! And the bat that just exited, his appearance matched the description of the one who had rescued the real child.

He looked up at Dingo. "Good for you! Now try using that puny brain of yours more often!" His partner had conveniently thought for once and now they were going to take full advantage of it.

* * *

Nightshade heard the infant babble excitedly and turned his head to look at him, grinning. "Are you trying to tell me something?"

The baby smiled back. "Bah-bah."

Nightshade was hoping the child would say something coherent; the bat was certain he was due to say his first word any day now. The baby boy had learned to walk just a few days after he rescued him.

Nightshade was a little concerned though. Lately, the kid had been saying what suspiciously sounded like Chao words. Worried that the baby would learn to talk in Chao language, but not in English, Nightshade had begun talking more often to him; after all, he didn't know how long the infant would be staying in Chaonalore and, if he found his relatives, they might be a bit alarmed if he didn't speak any recognizable language by the time he was three. He just hoped there were some relatives left.

Speaking of which, there was his contact now, an old rooster in spectacles dressed in a robe. Nightshade approached him.

The bird's beak curled into a smile. "Ah, hello there, Nightshade."

Nightshade smiled back. "Been a while, hasn't it, Jakah?"

"Yes, indeed. Come this way."

Jakah lead him down a narrow street then into a small house. A lightly furnished room met his eyes, containing a few wooden chairs and a table, the former to which Jakah pointed. "Sit down. It doesn't matter which one."

Nightshade took the infant out of his strap pack and sat down, letting the baby sit on his lap.

Jakah sat down opposite Nightshade. He twiddled his fingers and sighed. "I'm afraid the young one cannot be raised by his relatives."

Inwardly, Nightshade groaned. "Why not?"

"Most of them were roboticized. The others are all dead."

Nightshade looked down and saw the child looking innocently back at him. He sighed sadly and hugged him. "I'm sorry, little one."

Jakah allowed a moment of silence then continued. "He and his family came here to visit some relatives just a few days before they were captured. And no, there are no family members where he originally came from," Jakah added, seeing the look on Nightshade's face.

"But why did Robotnik do it? Was his family part of the Resistance?"

Upon hearing this question, Jakah looked around then leaned across the table. He lifted a wing to his beak and whispered in Nightshade's ear. "I don't know all the details but apparently, Robotnik needed the young one in order to find a hidden place: a sanctuary, I think they called it. Robotnik, urgh, roboticized every family member he captured that day except a mother, a father and the only young one they had. He needed the parents to care for the young one while he made observations on the boy's behaviour."

Nightshade was puzzled. "What does watching how a baby acts has to do with finding a sanctuary?"

"That I don't know…"

**Crash!**

They both jumped up in surprise and looked at the doorway: a large red and purple humanoid robot stood there. Its green visor looked them over.

"Citizens,-you-are-under-arrest," it intoned.

The kid began to wail loudly.

* * *

**Crash!**

Manic almost jumped off his hoverboard in surprise. He gazed around, trying to find the source of the crash. A moment later, the cry of a baby reached his ears. It seemed to Manic that he had heard that particular wail somewhere before. He flew off in the direction of the sound.

He spotted Sleet and Dingo's craft parked near the opening of a street that was a little too narrow for it to fit in and frowned; no doubt those two were up to no good as usual as the crying seemed to be very close by. He lowered his altitude so that he was hovering just a few inches off the ground.

Manic peeked cautiously around the corner and saw two Swatbots keeping a tight grip on a grey bat and a rooster, who were being interrogated by Sleet, whose back was turned to Manic, while Dingo watched. And in the bat's arms was…

Again, Manic nearly fell off his hoverboard in shock. No, it couldn't be! He was dead! ...So to speak. He looked more carefully; no, it definitely looked like Hip.

The green hedgehog thought for a moment. Hadn't Sonic and Sonia told him about the other Hip robot Robotnik had shown them when he had captured them? Maybe this was the other one; maybe that bat and chicken were part of the Resistance and the robot baby had lured those Swatbots to them! Just how many of these artificial infants were there?

"I told you before. We are not Freedom Fighters!"

Manic blinked in surprise at the bat's words. They weren't?

Sleet scoffed. "And I suppose you didn't kidnap that baby that you're holding right now."

"You mean, 'rescue,' you heartless creature!" the rooster yelled heatedly. "Roboticizing people is cruel enough but turning young ones who are barely old enough to walk into practically soulless beings? What would your master want with young ones anyway? They're hardly fit to work in his factories."

"Working in factories isn't the only thing robots are good for," Sleet evenly answered.

Manic watched as the bat stared intently at Sleet for a moment. He suddenly drew back, a look of horror on his face. If Manic had been closer, he would have heard the rooster whisper to the bat, "I'm better off not knowing what he meant by that, am I not?"

"You're right. Let's just say I'm not sure whether or not the soul would survive that even if Roboticization left it intact." He shuddered.

"...Alright then. Give me a minute," mumbled the rooster.

Manic was confused. Robotnik meant to roboticize Hip? Why would he do that to someone – or something – that was already a robot to begin with?

Then Manic remembered an event from a few weeks ago before they first discovered Hip. The citizens of a small town had, one by one, began acting unlike themselves. The Sonic Underground had easily discovered it to be because each had been replaced, one at a time, with a robot duplicate as part of an experiment conducted by Robotnik. Apparently, because the robotic doppelgangers didn't really resemble their organic counterparts in personality, the rotund dictator had given up on that project because intelligence never picked up another word about it.

So could it be that that robot he had nearly brought to Sanctuary was actually a copy of the real thing which he was looking at right this moment…?

"Priority-One:-Hedgehog."

Manic was grabbed from behind and hoisted into the air which caused his hoverboard to zoom off. Cursing himself and flailing about, he realized that he had failed to watch his back for any Swatbots, including the one that had just grabbed him.

"Hey, let go!"

**Clang!**

To his surprise, it did what he demanded; but not before something hit the robot in the legs and swept them out from under it! Seconds later, what that something was became apparent as the hoverboard skidded onto the ground in front of Manic. With nobody to control it, the flying board had zoomed around like crazy, finally connecting with the 'bot's legs. Manic grabbed it.

"What the...Hedgehog!" The commotion, of course, had drawn Sleet's attention. "Dingo, get him!"

Dingo charged towards him but Manic simply dodged the heavyweight by stepping aside, who tripped over the fallen Swatbot, banged his head on a nearby building's wall and knocked himself out with a groan.

Manic glared at the remaining bounty hunter. If looks could kill, Sleet would have been incinerated on the spot.

"You let them go right now or else!" he yelled, summoning his drum set. The bat and rooster's eyes widened in astonishment and recognition.

Sleet almost quailed under the green hedgehog's look but he wasn't about to back down that easily. "I don't know about you, Hedgehog, but I have reinforcements on the way."

"Chaos Control!" the rooster suddenly cried.

There was a brilliant flash of light which blinded Sleet and Manic then the captives were gone!

* * *

In a deserted street, in another bright flare of light, Jakah, Nightshade and the baby reappeared. Jakah collapsed, almost losing consciousness.

"Jakah!" Nightshade bent down to help him up. "You're too old to teleport! Even a short distance!"

"Uhhh…" moaned Jakah as Nightshade put an arm around him and helped him up. "The day a member of the royal family is captured and submitted to that awful process because of me… Ooh, that last act might have been enough to finally send me to the afterlife..."

"I think we'd better get out of here," stated Nightshade, looking about warily. "Where's the nearest Drop-In Point?"

"In this very street. That's why I teleported us here."

"Oh good. Thank you, Jakah."

And when a squadron of Swatbots arrived just one minute later, no trace of the ex-captives could be found.

* * *

As soon as the light cleared, Manic opened his eyes and gazed around the vicinity; where had the captives gone?

"What?" Sleet yelled, confused and furious. "Where are they? Find them!"

Manic's face showed newfound determination. "Not so fast, dudes!" he shouted and commenced beating on his drumset, intending to stall them.

The miniature earthquake caused by the mystical instrument sent Sleet flying into a wall, knocking him out. It also caused the two remaining Swatbots to crash into each other and explode. Manic then ceased drumming, panting from the exertion.

"Manic!"

Manic turned around and saw Sonic and Sonia running towards him.

"What are you doing?" Sonic yelled.

Manic explained what had transpired.

Sonia was incredulous. "Are you sure, Manic?"

"I know I'm sure!"

"Where did he go then?" asked Sonic, equally sceptical.

"I don't know. But I'm telling you the truth: Hip is real!"

A scroll suddenly dropped down from above, bouncing off Sonic's face. "Ow! Hey!"

Sonia snatched it up, unrolled it and read it. "'The path to them is in Rolohah Street.' Rolohah Street? Where's that? And who wrote this?"

The three siblings looked up…just in time to see a purple cloak disappear over the roof of a nearby building.

They all gasped. "Mom!" Sonic took off after her, running up the side of the structure.

Sonia looked at the note again. "Who are 'them?'"

Manic looked hopeful. "'Them' must be the two dudes who had Hip with them!"

Just then, Sonic returned, disappointment written all over his face. "Didn't get her."

That wasn't too surprising; somehow, no matter what they did, they could never catch up to the queen whenever she was spotted.

"Well, we'll just have to follow her directions," asserted Sonia. "Let's ask Raphi where Rolohah Street is."

* * *

"We shouldn't have wasted thirty seconds asking him!"

The Sonic Underground were now in Rolohah Street, a short but wide street that was currently devoid of any people save them, looking for anything that might help them. To Sonic's chagrin, it had been right next to the street where Manic saw Hip.

"Sonic, we had no…" Sonia started in irritation.

"You're right, Bro," interrupted Manic, gazing around frantically. "Hip could be far away by now."

"Oh brother," mumbled Sonia exasperatedly, her eyes rolling.

Manic walked around, looking suspiciously at every object.

He took another step and the ground beneath his feet suddenly sounded slightly hollow.

Immediately, he got on his hands and knees. He placed an ear to the ground and thumped it with his hand. Yep, definitely hollow. An ordinary person walking along would have missed it, but not a thief trained in the ways of discovering secrets.

Sonic and Sonia crouched down beside him, intrigued. "What is it?"

Manic ran his fingers over the ground and found a groove. Digging his digits in, he grabbed ahold and strained to lift it up. "Grr... Come on, you guys, how about lending a hand or two here?"

His brother and sister joined him and, together, the siblings managed to tug the piece of ground upward, uncovering a pit!

Putting the hunk of earth aside, Sonic, Manic and Sonia stood back to look at the dark, circular hole. The hedgehogs saw that it was the mouth of a near-vertical tunnel and the other end couldn't be seen.

"They went down here?" asked Sonia, peeking cautiously and curiously into the dark depths. "How far down does this go?"

Sonic peered down at the earthen walls in trepidation. "There's no ladder… If we go down there, how will we get back out?"

Sonia thought aloud, "This is probably not the only way in or out."

"Well, I don't care where it leads," said Manic determinedly as he lowered himself into the hole, "as long as Hip's at the other end!" Before his brother and sister could reply, Manic had slid out of sight.

The two remaining siblings looked at each other with apprehension. Sonic smiled nervously and gestured to the pit.

"...Ladies first, Sis."

* * *

Unfortunately, Sleet and Dingo had watched the entire proceedings from a nearby alleyway. They walked over to where the hedgehogs had just been, looked at each other and cackled heinously.


	3. Tunnel Vision

Chapter 3: Tunnel Vision

To Manic, it seemed like the tunnel slide would never end. He had gotten a few scrapes and bruises from the twists and turns and, at times, he could actually hear his brother and sister whooping and screaming somewhere distantly behind him. Just when his thoughts had cleared up and he had started thinking about what might be waiting at the end, the tunnel slide opened up under him. He fell out and landed on something incredibly soft.

After recovering his balance, Manic took a look at the soft object and found it to be what looked like a gigantic white pillow, much to his bafflement. He got up and gazed around.

He was in an underground cave that had a wide passageway leading out to unknown destinations. Dim light bulbs were strung to the high ceilings and signs were carved into the walls above the tunnel entrances, the words on them written in some foreign language Manic could not recognize. And, of course, right above him was the hole he had just fallen out of.

The thought of waiting for his siblings didn't even occur to the green hedgehog as he hopped off the pillow. Manic was too focused on finding Hip before he lost him again. He wanted to know about those guys who had Hip with them. He wanted to know where they found him. He wanted to know if the baby was in good hands.

Manic ran down the tunnel, almost completely forgetting about Sonic and Sonia.

* * *

"Yeeehaaaaaw!" Sonic was having the time of his life. The tunnel slide had many twists and turns and, more often then not, Sonic found himself in a near-freefall as the tunnel slanted steeply sometimes. It was a little terrifying sometimes because of the dark but he was still having fun.

He could hear his sister screaming somewhere ahead of him but not Manic. Several times, they had gone past divergent paths so it seemed that, somewhere along the line, he had taken a different route.

Meanwhile, Sonia, though frightened, was trying to slow herself down with her feet and hands and wondering what purpose there could be to making the tunnel slide fork occasionally. After all, wouldn't that make it more difficult to get to where you wanted to...

**Wham!**

With yelps of surprise and pain, Sonic caught up with Sonia and slammed into her. They tumbled together for about fourteen seconds and then came to a complete stop as their tangled bodies finally exited the tunnel slide and landed on a humongous, white pillow.

"Ouch! Sonic, your finger's in my ear!"

Sonic made a gagging sound. "Yuck! Get your foot out of my face, Sonia, I can't breathe!"

"Sonic Hedgehog, my feet can't possibly stink...especially when compared to your armpit! Eww!"

"Well, your tail's in…" Sonic paused, realizing something. "Wait a Mobius minute: Where's Manic?"

The two hedgehogs managed to disentangle themselves, slide off the cushion and look around.

Unfortunately, unlike the one their green sibling had landed in, this cave had five ways out, all arranged around the perimeter. Other than that aspect, though, it was identical to the other cavern.

Sonic was amazed. "Who could have made all this?"

"It couldn't have been Robotnik," answered Sonia assuredly. "There's not a drop of oil or grease anywhere!"

"But which way did Manic go? And what if he went down another way on that tunnel slide? Bummer majoris."

They started brainstorming different ideas.

"Hey Sonia? What do you think about the way Manic's been acting?"

"Very unlike himself but can you really blame him? It's almost like the times when we were so close to finding Mother."

"Speaking of Mom, why do you think she wants to help Manic find Hip? The little guy seems to be alright with the people he's with...if that is the 'real' Hip."

"Who knows? Remember, appearances can be deceiving."

A pause. "I wonder how Manic's doing."

"He's probably just fine, Sonic. At least, I hope he is."

* * *

Manic finally slowed from a run to a walk, panting. He wished he had brought his hoverboard instead of leaving it at Raphi's.

The prince looked behind himself and found, to his dismay, that Sonia and Sonic were nowhere in sight. He had heard them screaming behind him on the tunnel slide but he hadn't realized that it had split along the way.

For a second, Manic pondered going back to look for his siblings but then he thought that, if he did that, he might never catch up to Hip. Furthermore, they could follow him very easily.

So the green hedgehog kept on going.

Finally, he rounded a bend and saw, up ahead, at last, the end of the tunnel where there was a bright light. Manic stopped; was that where Hip was? The light didn't seem natural. He had been half expecting the tunnel to lead to a secret place that was outside. He started jogging towards it again.

A hauntingly melodious song filled his ears as he neared the exit, sung by the most beautiful voice Manic had ever heard. He immediately forgot everything: who he was, why he was here, how he got down here. He only knew and cared about one thing: the beautiful voice, whose owner Manic wanted so badly to meet. In the dim light, Manic saw something move for a second near the wall close to the exit and quickened his pace. His muscles began to relax and his eyelids began to droop as he came closer to the light.

Within a few feet of the light, his legs collapsed, no longer able to hold their owner up. The rest of his body followed soon after. The last thing Manic saw, before drifting into unconsciousness was the outline of what appeared to be a peacock.

* * *

Pecan looked proudly at the would-be prisoner. The Chao couldn't imagine how this green hedgehog got down here but that would soon be found out. Pecan couldn't wait to show Ronnie the captured trespasser.

With great enthusiasm, Pecan dragged the prisoner, who didn't even twitch, over to a nearby cage, completely failing to notice the Royal Hedgehog Medallion around his neck.


	4. Meetings and Greetings

Chapter 4: Meetings and Greetings

"You know, I'm open to suggestions, Sis."

"Unfortunately, so am I, Sonic."

Sonia and Sonic had been wandering around the passageways for quite a while. There had been no sign of anybody, least of all their brother.

Sonic sighed. "Where's a tour guide when you need one?"

"Ibee doh dagadee doo?"

"Huh?" The tense hedgehogs spun around.

A tiny, yellow, fairy-like being with large antennae on its head and dragonfly-like wings on its back hovered before them. It stared at them, awe in its large eyes.

The princess gasped in recognition and instantaneously melted. "Aww! So cute!"

"Uh, what is it, Sonia?" inquired Sonic, scratching his head.

"I've learned about this species in school; it's a Chao!"

Sonia gestured towards it. "Come here, we won't hurt you!"

"Ainey way," mumbled the Chao as it shyly approached her. Sonia petted its head, causing the creature to hum happily as the orb floating over its head took on the shape of a heart.

The blue hedgehog was still bewildered about something. "What's it doing down here?"

"Maybe this is where it lives," hypothesized Sonia. "Now that I think about it, those signs we've been seeing appear to be written in the language of the Chao. And there have been even fewer sightings of them since the coup."

"So these Chao fled underground when Robuttnik's ugly mug showed up," Sonic mused. "Can you understand what's it saying, Sonia?"

"Well, no, but I've read that Chao can understand any language even if they can't speak-whoa!"

"Hey!"

The Chao had commenced pulling on the siblings' medallions, chattering exciteably all the while.

"Sis, I...think it knows who we are," muttered Sonic irritatedly as he tugged his and his sister's medallions out of the Chao's grasp.

Sonia smiled at the little one. "You want us to go with you?"

The tiny Chao nodded emphatically and flew off, motioning for Sonia and Sonic to follow it.

"What about Manic?"

"Maybe this Chao knows where he is," Sonia replied hopefully. "Besides, what else can we do, continue wandering around?"

"Good point!" Sonic responded brightly before he and Sonia started following the Chao.

* * *

The lioness shook her head politely. "No, Pecan, I haven't seen that bully at all."

[Thank you, Max,] sighed Pecan. The Chao flew off and recommenced searching.

[Where are you, Night Snake?] Pecan bellowed, getting frustrated. Night Snake was the best at gathering supplies and interrogating. It was standard procedure to have any trespassers questioned (and, in rare cases, tortured). Finding him was tough as usual as he had an annoying habit of hiding and popping up unexpectedly.

[Night Snake!] yelled Pecan once more.

"Looking for me?"

Pecan started and did an about-face.

"…or for that scaredy-bat?"

Pecan's tail feathers ruffled in indignation. [Nightshade's not a scaredy-bat!]

"Scaredy-bat, peace-loving idiot, whatever."

Night Snake's entire body, minus the eyes, was covered in black strips of cloth, making him look like a mummy with extra big, black bandages. A long whip was tied around his waist like a belt. Thanks to the disguise, his species was indiscernible.

Pecan sighed. Night Snake tended to bully others, especially those who wouldn't or couldn't fight; in his opinion, they were complete wimps.

"What do you want, anyway?"

[I caught a trespasser!]

"Sure you did."

[I'm not lying!] yelled Pecan angrily. [And I need you to do what you do best!]

"Okay, okay. Lead the way."

A few moments later, Pecan led Night Snake to a hollow in the cavern wall that was barred with wooden sticks. Inside was Manic, who was still snoozing.

[See, I told you so!] exclaimed Pecan in triumph, pointing to the slumbering green hedgehog.

Night Snake snorted. "So you actually did something right for once." He marched up to the prison and took a good look.

"Hmmm… Looks like this one has been raised on the streets."

Night Snake stepped back. "Now let us wake Sleeping Beauty here and get this over with, shall we?" He cracked his knuckles.

[Okay.] Pecan fluttered up to the cage, turned around, stuck its tail through the bars and tickled the hedgehog right on his nose.

"Aa…aa…aa…aaaah-choo!"

With a loud sneeze, Manic was brought back to the waking world. He looked around and, when he realized he was in a cage, abruptly stood up and banged his head on the low ceiling.

"Ow!"

Rubbing his sore cranium, he stared at Night Snake and Pecan. "Who and what are you guys?"

"I am your worst nightmare."

Manic's eyebrow cocked. "Okay... What is that puny thing anyway?"

Pecan giggled while Night Snake replied, "That is none of your business."

Manic frowned. "And just what are you dudes up to?"

"We do not take kindly to trespassers and since you are one… Well, I am sure you can figure that one out."

[I'll leave you two alone now,] said Pecan. [I gotta get back to my post.] The Chao flew off.

Manic tried to reason with Night Snake. "Look, dude, I'm just trying to look for someone."

"Really," answered Night Snake, folding his arms. "Who?"

"A grey bat. He had a baby hedgehog strapped to his back."

Night Snake narrowed his eyes slightly. The description matched the appearances of that scaredy-bat and scaredy-brat but that didn't necessarily mean that he knew them; he probably just followed them here. "And I suppose you know them, right?"

"Yes! I mean, no! I mean, I don't know who the bat is but I think I've met that baby before!"

"You think?" repeated Night Snake with increasing incredulity.

"Well… I met a robot that looked just like him."

Night Snake became even more sceptical. "Uh-huh. Right." He untied his whip, drew it out to its full length and gave it a good crack at nothing in particular. "By the time I am done with you, you will wish..."

Right at that moment, a familiar bat with a familiar infant strapped to his back stepped around the corner of a mud building, calling, "Come out, come out, wherever you are, Alex."

Then both Manic and Nightshade caught sight of each other. They both stared for a second then did a double take, yelling, "Ack! It's you!"

"You're the dude I saw Hip with!"

"You're the prince who helped us escape!"

The would-be interrogator looked at him. "I always thought you were a peace-loving idiot, Nightshade, but this takes the cake. A prince? Impossible. The last time I checked, all three of Queen Aleena's children were being raised by well-to-do families. And this one definitely does not look like he has been brought up by one."

Nightshade frowned at him. "You can't judge a book by its cover, Night Snake. Besides, don't you recognize that necklace around his neck? That's a Royal Hedgehog Medallion. He used it to help me, Jakah and the babe escape."

Night Snake whirled around to look at Manic and his medallion. His eyes widened then narrowed again. "He probably stole it. He certainly looks like a ruffian through and through."

[Sometimes, I could say the same thing about you, Night Snake!]

They both turned around. "Ronnie!"

The red dragon Chao fluttered towards them with Pecan leading the way. [Pecan told me what had transpired and I recognized the description of Prince Manic so I came here. For your information, Night Snake, Prince Manic was stolen by a thief and raised by a gang of them. Thus, your information is quite out of date.]

While Ronnie was saying this, Pecan flew over to Manic's cage and bowed very low in reverence, rambling and apologizing for putting him to sleep earlier, yet forgetting that he couldn't understand Chao language.

[By the way, Night Snake,] continued Ronnie, [I need to talk to you about your eavesdropping. But first…] Ronnie turned to Nightshade. [Nightshade, tell his Highness that he can stay here for as long as he needs to accomplish whatever he wanted that made him come down here in the first place.] No one noticed Ronnie looking toward and winking at the shadowed corner of a nearby building where a barely discernable, cloaked figure was standing.

"Yes, Ronnie." Both Ronnie and Night Snake then departed, the latter with his head bowed in shame for his treatment of a member of royalty.

After relaying what Ronnie had said to Manic, Nightshade then added, "Here, allow me, Nightshade, your humble servant, to release you, your Highness."

Manic flinched, quite unused to being treated with such great respect. "Jus-just call me Manic. And I can let myself out."

He took out a picklock from one of his vest pockets and stuck it through the bars into the padlock. After twisting it for a few seconds, there was a satisfying click and Manic stepped out, head held high.

Pecan said something to Nightshade who then asked, "Pecan wants to know why you didn't release yourself earlier if you could do that, Prince Manic."

Manic looked at them curiously. "Um... I didn't want to get any more trouble on my back then needed. But seriously, how can you understand what that thing is saying, dude?"

"Well…" mumbled Nightshade, not used to conversing with a royal family member, "I kind of grew up with them, Prince Manic. They're called Chao."

"Chao?" repeated Manic, thinking the word strange.

"By the way, your highness, where are your brother and sister?"

Manic's eyes widened. "Oh man, Sonic and Sonia! I can't believe I forgot about them! They must be still in the tunnels!"

[I'll get some people to help look for them, your Majesty,] chirped Pecan, fluttering off.

Nightshade translated what the Chao had said, then called out, "While you're at it, Pecan, can you get them to find Alex for me? I've searched everywhere in Chaonalore and I still can't find luw so I think ijja might have decided to 'explore' the tunnels again!"

[Okey-dokey, I'll keep that in mind!] Pecan yelled back cheerily.

As soon as Pecan had gone, Manic turned to Nightshade and asked nervously, pointing to the cooing infant, "Hey, uh, Nightshade, was it? Are...are you sure that baby is...real? I mean, not a robot"

The bat appeared startled. "Er, yes, he is real, Your Highness!"

"How can you be so sure?"

"Chao can sense living beings' souls. If this little one was an ordinary machine in disguise, he would have been discovered and destroyed immediately."

Manic looked as if he would weep. "Can...can I hold him?"

"Of course you can, Prince Manic." Nightshade handed Hip over to Manic.

"You can just call me Manic, you know. Hey, Hip," said Manic as he smiled and held the drooling babe, who was intrigued by this new face, high up in the air. "Long time, no see."

Nightshade became curious. "You mean you know him?"

"Well, sort of," answered Manic awkwardly as he cuddled the little one.

"Well, we can tell each other our stories while we walk to the daycare I work at. That is, if your majesty would please? I'd be honoured and so would the Chaodren; they're the Chao equivalent of children," Nightshade further explained when he noted Manic's bewildered look.

"A daycare?" repeated the drummer 'hog in surprise.

"Yes. I'm very good with young ones. That's why Ronnie, the leader of Chaonalore, is letting me take care of that babe. Er, what did you call him, 'Hip'?"

"Yeah, I picked it myself!" The green hedgehog began tickling Hip, who giggled loudly. "Yes, oo wike dat, don't oo? Don't oo?"

"Bah-bah!"

* * *

"Whoa, Sonia!" exclaimed Sonic in shock. "Did you see that? That Chao disapp-... Oh wait, it's back again!"

The Chao giggled and continued to flutter ahead through a junction with a pillow on the ground and a pipe above, the pair of hedgehogs still following.

"I think turning invisible must be this Chao's talent," Sonia answered after pondering for a moment.

"This Chao's talent?"

The princess smiled. "Yes. Each Chao has a unique and amazing power. But I've heard they all also have the ability to..."

"Whoa!"

Hearing the yell, the two hedgehogs looked up and were astonished to see Sleet fall right out of the protruding pipe, followed soon after by Dingo. First Sleet landed on the cushion with his snout then Dingo landed on both him and the cushion, the combined and sudden weight causing the pillow to burst and send multicoloured feathers everywhere!

"*cough* *wheeze* Dingo! Get *hack* off of me this instant!"

"Oops," Dingo responded sheepishly as he got up, "Sorry, Sleet."

"'Sorry?'" repeated Sleet in an irritated manner as he stood up, brushing the feathers off his body. "'Sorry' does not make up for all that time we wasted stuck in that pipe!"

"But, Sleet..." started Dingo, trying to point to something behind his partner.

"I don't know how you pushed that remote's button while we were going down," interrupted Sleet, his temper now lost, "and transformed into whatever it was that got us both wedged in there..."

"Um, Sleet?"

"Don't you dare say that since I was the one in possession of the remote, it was my fault that we got into that predicament! It took me quite a while to reach for it due to the position we were in..."

"Yo, Sleezo!"

"I have half a mind to..." Sleet stopped ranting and looked at Dingo weirdly. "What did you just say?"

The muscle-bound Mobian gulped and pointed behind Sleet once more. "It wasn't me, Sleet! It was him!"

Sleet spun around and his eyes widened as he beheld Sonic and Sonia pointing their electric guitar and synthesizer right at him and Dingo.

The grin on Sonia's face widened. "In this case, you were the dummy, Sleet, instead of Dingo."

The princess and prince opened fire.

**Wham!**

With pained shouts, the bounty hunters were blasted off their feet and into the wall, their motions causing the feathers around them to be stirred up once more.

"Bull's-eye!" quipped Sonic.

Moaning, Dingo and Sleet slid down the wall and landed on their butts with a thud...and an audible squeal.

"Aoh! Mee ee ee!"

"Huh?" Dingo reached under his bottom and pulled the wiggling dragonfly-esque Chao out just as it was turning visible.

"The Chao!" the royal siblings gasped in horror. "Let it go!"

"Huh? Chao?" Sleet mumbled as he cleared his head. He stared at the struggling Chao, then at the two hedgehogs and his face broke into a malicious grin as he got onto his feet. "Don't try anything, Hedgehogs or you can wave bye-bye to your friend here, whatever it is."

"Uh, yeah!" agreed Dingo as he got back up too and tightened his grip on the whimpering Chao.

"You shouldn't try doing anything either," Sonia argued angrily. "Do you know just what it is you have there?"

"I heard you call it a 'Chao'," Sleet smoothly replied, "and that's all I need to know. Now surrender yourselves immediately or face the consequences."

Both the hedgehogs looked at each other and then at the Chao uneasily for just a few seconds. "...We surrender."

Sleet and Dingo cackled ominously and triumphantly.


	5. Join Us for a Happy Time

Chapter 5: Join Us for a Happy Time

[Yippee, Nightshade's back!]

[And he's got someone with him!]

The royal thief gawked at the inside of the daycare. The wallpapers were simple blank sheets, covered with the colourful scrawls and doodles of young ones. Various familiar toys, such as balls, dolls and jack-in-the-boxes, were scattered all over the floor along with strange contraptions that Manic couldn't even begin to understand.

As soon as Manic had stepped through the door of the daycare with Hip in his arms, his feet had been swarmed by a crowd of curious Chaodren, in many different colours, shapes and sizes yet a lot smaller than the ones he had already seen. Of course, they were all chattering in, what was to him, an unintelligible language.

"Chaodren, show some reverence." berated Nightshade gently. "This is his royal highness and future member of the Council of Four, Prince Manic."

The Chaodren cooed in awe with wide eyes and bowed down so low, the tips of their heads touched the floor.

Manic blushed with embarrassment. "Oh, come on, dudes, that's not necessary." Being raised as a thief, he wasn't used to getting any kind of respect at all, let alone being treated like royalty.

[Come play with us!] Rising up, they grabbed hold of his vest and dragged him over to a nearby toy box.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there, dudes! Here, Nightshade!" He handed the sleeping babe over to Nightshade.

The Chaodren opened the container, revealing a plethora of colourful miniature objects that were just the right size for a Chao. Each grabbed a toy and proceeded to bug Manic into playing with them first.

Manic put his hands up in a half-hearted attempt to push them back. "Okay, okay, uh, I know! Why don't we all play ball? Everyone, gather in a circle!"

The Chaodren did as they were told while Manic stood in the center holding up a bright orange ball. "Alright, I'm gonna toss this ball to each of you randomly and you have to hit the ball back at me without catching it. If you do catch it or miss, you're out! Last one standing's the winner!"

All the Chaodren cheered and formed a circle, hovering in midair.

Manic's grin enlarged. "Alright! You're first!" And he tossed the ball.

**Biff!**

The ball simply bounced off the first Chao's head, knocking it literally head over heels even as it continued to hover in the same spot.

"Oops! Oh man, I'm sorry, little dude. I should have…"

Much to the royal thief's surprise, the bonked, purple Chao righted itself and seemed to cheer before backing away from the circle, grabbing the rubbery orb and lobbing it back over to Manic.

The green hedgehog couldn't help but gape. "Whoa. They're made of tougher stuff than I thought!"

The remaining Chaodren all held up their arms, indicating that they wanted the ball chucked at them next.

A grin reappeared on Manic's face. "Alright, play ball! You're next!" And he threw it.

The targeted, overenthusiastic, red Chao obliged by smacking it hard…straight into Manic's gut.

Manic clasped his stomach, tried to keep himself from collapsing and failed. "Oof… (gasp) Dude, you pack a wallop!"

All of the Chaodren giggled loudly.

A few minutes later, Manic ended up regretting that he said that the one who lasted the longest would be the winner as the yellow Chao with amphibious characteristics kept tugging at his vest wilfully.

"Hey, cut it out, will you, just what's the big idea?"

Nightshade looked over from where he wiping a small one's face. "I think Terry wants a prize for winning."

Manic chuckled nervously. "Oh, r-really? Um, like what?" He had only been joking when he said there was a prize.

"Oh, all you need to do to satisfy that one is to feed luw some fruit and pet luw for a few minutes. There're several kinds in that white-painted cupboard over there."

"Hey, don't nibble on my vest!" Manic commanded as he dragged the Chao over to said cabinet.

"Get off, will ya? Look, pick your favourite," he said as he easily grabbed the crystalline container and showed it to the Chao. The Chao looked at the food critically for a few seconds then selected and started munching on a red, strangely cubic fruit that was green on top.

The sounds of obvious ecstasy coming from the Chao were pleasing to Manic and brought a smile to his face. He put out a hand and commenced stroking the Chao's head just as it finished eating. The dot over its cranium took on the shape of a heart while a smile appeared on its face.

"Yeah, you really like that, don't ya, little dude?"

Manic unexpectedly felt his hand being pushed away from the Chao by an invisible force. "Huh! What the…?" He saw what was happening to the Chao and freaked. "…Ack, Nightshade!"

Nightshade hurried on over concernedly. "What is it, Your Highness?"

"Something weird's happening to this Chao! Help!"

"Hm?" Nightshade looked at the Chao. "Oh, don't worry; Terry is just making s cocoon."

"'Cocoon'?" The green hedgehog gazed at the thing that now enveloped the Chao; a blue, transparent, tear-shaped object that was gradually becoming opaque, obscuring the form of the Chao within.

"Yes. All Chao go through this at some point in their lives. It lasts a few hours then the Chao will come out, looking different."

"Oh. I get it. I think..."

"No, you two! Put Hip down!"

The green hedgehog whirled around and spotted two smiling Chaodren lifting a chortling Hip by his arms up into the air.

The blood drained from Manic's face as he recalled the robotic Hip being destroyed by being dropped from a great height. This time, the distance was much smaller but a fall from any height would be bad for an infant. He ran over to them at a speed that would make Sonic proud and held his arms up to grab the baby but they were hovering just out of reach.

"Um, heh heh, now please, little dudes, lower him gently into my arms (gulp)." Manic was sweating and getting more nervous by the second.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" asked Nightshade sternly as the bat fluttered up to them and took hold of Hip. "He is not a Chao, he can't fly!"

The pair of mischievous Chaodren looked sheepishly at their caretaker before landing on the floor and toddling over to a pile of blocks.

Sighing, Nightshade handed the wiggling babe over to Manic. "I think it would be best for him to grow up in the outside world in the presence of other Mobians but with his family either dead or turned into robots, I don't know who else to turn to."

The royal thief almost pointed out that Nightshade was a Mobian but something told him that wouldn't be wise.

"Say, Nightshade, have you ever heard of Sanctuary?"

"Can't say I have, Prince Manic."

A smile lit the green hedgehog's face. "It's a hidden place where we Freedom Fighters raise our kids in peace and safety. And Robotnik has never found it!"

Nightshade was quite intrigued. "A location like that sounds perfect for Hip! I'll bring him there as soon as I can!"

"And I'll help, dude!"

"Waaaahh!"

Lifting Hip in front of his face, Manic gazed at the child's scrunched up face and whispered, "Aww, what's wrong?"

On a whim, the prince held Hip closer to his body and gave his back a few gentle pats.

"Burp!" went the infant.

"Gah dee!" the Chaodren all chorused.

In confusion, Manic looked around at them all. "What did they say?"

Nightshade chuckled. "They said, 'Excuse you'!"

"I might have guessed!" laughed the teenage hedgehog, with Hip joining in with his own chortles.

Hearing the sound of music, Manic turned to a trio of Chao who had formed a small band. One was blowing on a tiny trumpet while another was shaking a rattle to the beat and an additional Chao was singing something incomprehensible. An audience of four was clapping and humming along.

Manic smiled, getting an idea. "Hey, little dudes," he called to them as he walked over and bent down. "How about playing along with me?"

The Chaodren made some sounds that anyone could interpret as joyful agreement.

Manic's grin widened. "Alright, let's do it!"

He picked up a discarded toy drum and stick and gave them to the enthusiastic infant. Then Manic handed Hip over to Nightshade.

"Stand back, everyone!"

The medallion flashed and the drum set materialized. The Chaodren cooed in wonder and gathered around. Nightshade sat down in the front with a giggling Hip in his lap as the performance commenced.

"Oh, oh, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah!

Whoa-oh-oh, whoa, whoa!

"Come on now, time to celebrate!

This reunion's all thanks to fate!

The party's just about to start

And don't dare think you can't take part!

"Here we are,

United once more!

Don't you leave

'Cause fun is in store!

"Never thought I'd see you again!

Oh man, the turmoil I was in!

Now I've found you! I'm glad! it's true!

I will never let go of you!

"Here we are,

United once more!

Don't you leave,

'Cause fun is in store!

"While you are here, don't even think

Of making this big party stink.

If you do, I'll just throw you out

So, elsewhere, you can make a pout!"

At this point, no words were heard for several seconds; only the sounds of Manic's and Hip's drums and the player Chaodren's miniature trumpet and rattle echoed around the daycare, accompanied by the captive audience's cheers.

"Here we are,

United once more!

Don't you leave

'Cause fun is in store!

"Here we are,

United once more!

Don't you leave

'Cause fun is in store!

"Fun is in store!"

No sooner had the last note's echo started to fade away in everyone's ears that a hornet abruptly slammed open the door, appearing breathless. "Your Majesty! Nightshade! Prince Sonic and Princess Sonia are here and they're with two ugly guys and a baby Chao!"

The bat cried, "That must be Alex!"

Manic abruptly stood up, turning his drum set back into a medallion in the process. "'Two ugly guys'? What exactly did they look like?"

"Oh, one was orange and muscle-bound and the other was scraggly and wearing purple armour, my prince."

That was all Manic and Nightshade needed to hear. After telling the older Chaodren to look after Hip and the younger Chaodren, they ran out the door and followed everyone else as they headed towards the northern end of the city.

A rather large crowd of Chao and a few Mobians had gathered in curiosity around the newcomers in the center of the square. Dingo was still holding onto the poor little Chao and Sleet had the two siblings tied up.

"Hey!"

Several heads turned in the direction of the shout and the gathering parted to let Manic through to the front, where he stood glaring at Sleet and Dingo.

Sonia and Sonic were overjoyed to see he was alright. "Manic!"

Sleet simply sneered. "Well, well, the third royal brat is here as well. This just keeps getting better and better."

Teeth grinding and temper flaring, Manic demanded, "Let them go or else…!"

"Or else what?" Sleet interrupted with a snort. "In case you haven't realized, hedgehog, not only have we a few hostages, we're also in an underground cavern. So if you use your drums to make quakes here, you'll make the ceiling collapse!"

"That's weird," Dingo mused out loud. "They're called the Sonic Underground but they can't do a thing underground!"

Sleet didn't know which face to slap; his or Dingo's. Choosing to ignore him, he glowered at the crowd.

"Now here's my ultimatum: hand over that hedgehog in exchange for this pipsqueak!" He pointed to Manic then to the tiny, fussing Chao that was trying to get out of Dingo's uncomfortable grip. "If you don't…well, let's just say that things won't end well for it."

Manic's brow furrowed and he balled his fists but the others just looked at the duo in puzzlement.

Night Snake raised an eyebrow and asked, "And what makes you think that the threat of making that little one's body uninhabitable for its soul is going to move us?"

Manic's eyes widened in alarm. "No, man, I'll turn…"

"Hush, Your Highness."

Sleet looked baffled, however hard he tried to conceal it. "What on Mobius are you babbling about?"

A change seemed to have come over Night Snake. "We of Chaonalore do not fear death. Unlike most others, we are well aware that the soul is not destroyed along with the body but endures afterwards forevermore."

Sleet smirked. "Are you saying this thing will come back as a ghost?"

Dingo seemed terrified. "I-i-i-it w-w-w-w-w-w-will? *gulp*" His grip loosened yet still not enough for the Chao to escape.

"No, it won't, you moron!" yelled Sleet irritatedly. "There are no such things as ghosts! And even if there were, what could this puny blob possibly do to us if it became one?"

"Hmph. You idiots don't understand how spirits can behave," said Night Snake haughtily and spookily. "But to get back to the subject at hand, I suppose if we exchange Manic for that little Chao, you'll leave with the heirs, demand a ransom for their safe return and kill them if we don't pay up."

It was Sleet's turn to be arrogant. "Who said anything about ransoms? We'll be taking all three of them back to Robotropolis for Roboticization."

Saying that turned out to be a humongous mistake.

For a moment, every resident of the underground city was stunned into silence. Then a rather disturbing change came over all of the Chao and Mobians. Teeth were bared, eyes glared and growls emanated from their throats.

"Uh-oh," mumbled Dingo in a frightened manner as he accidentally let go of the baby Chao (who flew off) and comically attempted to conceal his considerable bulk behind Sleet's relatively small frame.

With difficulty, Sleet refrained from slapping his forehead. "You moron, most of them are a little less than one foot tall; what are they going to do, nibble off our hair?"

"Our teeth…" began the normally pacifistic Nightshade, who, for once, looked like he was going to explode, the way his body was shaking with barely suppressed anger as he stomped towards them. "…happen to be able to cut through solid steel."

Sleet became scared for a moment but then snorted. "Do you expect me to believe such…? Wait a minute, what do you mean by, 'our teeth'?"

"By this."

And Nightshade began to glow a whitish colour, an untainted, bright light emanating from his body. He seemed to be transforming; shrinking and shrinking…

The brightness dissipated and Manic gasped. In Nightshade's place was a Chao with a similar appearance to the bat; grey in colour, large ears and leathery wings.

Sleet was amazed. "What? How is this possible?"

"Uh, Sleet?"

"Not now, Dingo. Can't you see I'm busy?"

"But Sleet, the other Chao!"

"Huh?" Sleet turned around yet had to shield his eyes from the blinding illumination that was radiating off all the Chao. It also seemed they were getting larger as well…

Nearly as fast as the light had appeared, it had vanished, leaving several Mobians of practically every species imaginable in the stead of the Chao. Several incensed Mobians at that.

"Whoa," whispered Sonic in awe.

"I knew it!" Sonia cried excitedly.

The two bounty hunters gulped and began backing away from their captives, Sleet stammering, "N-n-n-now, now, now! Let's not be too hasty…" As usual, he had gone from totally dominating when he had he upper hand to utterly placating now that he had the short end of the stick.

"Get them!" The enraged female red dragon that Ronnie had become screamed. "Get those who would dare use the process on the royal children that would do the-Gods-know-what to their souls!"

The Chao-turned-Mobians didn't need to be told twice (or at all, for that matter). They surged forward, shouting various war cries, howls and roars.

At the sight of the stampeding mob closing in on them, what little nerve Sleet and Dingo had left evaporated almost instantly. Shrieking, they ran for their lives.

Manic hurriedly untied his siblings. "You two alright?"

"We're fine, Manic!" assured Sonic, glad to be freed.

"Did you find Hip?" Sonia quickly asked.

"Yeah, the real one. He's not a robot, he's a living being!"

The blue prince stared at the mob, impressed yet a tad intimidated. "You know, I think they can handle Sleazo and Dingbat on their own."

His pink sibling readily agreed. "They should be enraged. Chao are very spiritual. They think something awful happens to the soul of a roboticized person and the very thought terrifies and angers them at the same time! I learned about them in school."

The authoritative voice of Ronnie rang out. "Seal the exits!"

Metallic doors slammed down in all the tunnel mouths.

The bounty hunters skidded to a halt in front of the exit they were running for and frantically looked around for another way out.

"Oh, we're trapped, Sleet!" Dingo wailed in despair.

"Shut up, Dingo!" growled Sleet as he looked up at the ceiling. "Aha!" There was a series of air vents covered with slightly rusted grills on the walls near the ceiling. By his estimation, they were just big enough for him and Dingo (slightly altered) to fit through.

Sleet quickly pulled out his remote, aimed it at Dingo and fired. "Get us to one of those vents up there!"

Where Dingo once stood, there was now a large orange bird. Sleet hopped onto his back and Dingo took to the air. Immediately, all Mobians who had wings followed suite while the ones who didn't turned back into Chao to get back their wings.

"Faster, faster!" demanded Sleet urgently as he looked behind him. "They're still chasing us!"

"Uh, Sleet, how are we going to get that grate open?"

Turning around, Sleet saw that they were heading for the rustiest vent yet cursed; he didn't have any weapons or tools to pry it open and, even rusted, it still looked like it would take a while for him to force it ajar with his bare hands. And of course, Dingo couldn't use his formidable strength while he was in this state...or could he?

A small smirk appeared on Sleet's mug. "Dingo, ram that vent!"

Dingo groaned but managed to speed up a little.

**Smash!**

The impact nearly made Sleet topple off and caused Dingo to see little birdies of his own. Nevertheless, the grate lurched inward and cracks on the wall spread from it.

Once the partners-in-crime got their bearings straight, Sleet looked over the vent in satisfaction. "Once more, Dingo, and we'll be out of here!"

"Oh no, you won't!"

They turned around and gulped. Pecan (now in the guise of a blue and green peahen) had flew ahead of the others and was now bearing down on the two bounty hunters with fierce determination.

"Charge!"

Dingo just barely got out of the way in the nick of time.

So Pecan careened into the grate instead of the pursued.

**Slam!**

That crash made the grate give way, falling backwards into the air vent.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" While poor Pecan alternated between flapping her wings and holding her hurting head, Sleet and Dingo made good use of this opportunity and escaped gleefully through the large opening.

An unsettling rumbling reached Pecan's ears, causing her to look up and turn a tad white.

More and larger cracks had appeared in the rock face, spreading over a wide area. Dust began falling from these aforementioned fissures.

"...Whoops."

With a sound like thunder, the entire, huge, cracked section collapsed. Boulders and slabs began to fall onto the part of the city where the daycare was.

"Oh no, the daycare!" cried Manic. "That's where the young Chao and Hip are! Sonic...!"

**Zoom!**

Manic didn't need to finish. The blue hedgehog scooped up his brother and sister and ran toward the daycare as fast as possible while, up above, the Chao stopped chasing Sleet and Dingo and started destroying the gigantic rocks with their various powers in a panicked frenzy.

"Eek!" Several Chaodren, alarmed by the frightening rumbles, came scrambling out of the daycare just as the triplets arrived. Manic quickly glanced them over. "There are still some in there, including the onion-shaped cocoons!"

They ran inside, rocks bouncing around them all the while.

While Sonia and Sonic rapidly gathered up the cocoons and the Chaodren that were paralyzed with fear or pinned down by debris and carried them outside, Manic searched for Hip. He spotted him sleeping in a cradle close to a large hole caused by a nearby boulder.

"Hip!" The green hedgehog ran to the baby.

**Bam!**

An errant rock smacking his head knocked him onto his front and caused stars to appear. Before Manic could get his bearings straight, the portion of roof right overhead collapsed, trapping yet not injuring his legs.

"Grr!" Struggled as he might, the thief could not break free. To his horror, a large slab, blasted aside by the Chao's powers was falling and would land where Hip's cradle was!

Once again, Manic was terrified to find himself unable to aid Hip.

But then, a feminine figure robed in purple swooped down on the napping babe and scooped him up, hurrying from the area just before the slab crushed the now-empty cradle and the rumblings finally subsided.

For a moment, Manic did nothing but stare; stare at the spot where, barely three seconds ago, Hip had been about to be squashed. The prince could barely hear his siblings calling his name as he managed to free himself. Crawling out from under the debris, Manic attempted to stand up but collapsed, weeping once more for many different reasons; relief that Hip was safe, sadness that he had lost him again and joy that he had seen his mother.


	6. Epilogue

Epilogue

A few weeks later…

Manic sat gloomily on a stone with his head cupped in his hands. The green hedgehog punk simply stared ahead, taking no notice of the gently flowing river sparkling in front of him or the laughter of the children who lived in this place: Sanctuary.

It was a different kind of sadness though; the last time, he had been grieving for what was, to him, a death of a loved one. Now he was cheerless because he missed Hip.

'But I'll see him again, won't I?' he thought, leaning back and looking through the leafy cover to a sky that was becoming overcast. 'I mean, he's with Mom, I think, and we'll definitely see her again just like the prophecy says but…what if…what if…?'

He sighed and remembered what Nightshade had told him. The Chao who could take on the form of a bat had theorized (after the subsequent search for Queen Aleena had failed) that she perhaps had brought Hip to Sanctuary or left the infant on somebody's doorstep, just like she had done with her own children. He and his siblings had come back here eagerly only to find the former conjecture to be false.

It began to drizzle. Manic heaved yet another sigh and stood up to find some shelter.

That's when he heard the sound of a child crying.

Manic looked about. There was no one in sight; however, he could hear it as plainly as the raindrops hitting the brook. He walked around, trying to nail the source of it when his foot suddenly caught on something and he tripped.

Picking his face up out of the newly formed mud, he looked behind himself and gasped when he saw what it was that he had literally stumbled upon: Hip's basket.

"Hip!"

Manic immediately stood up, bent down over the babe and scooped him up into his arms, hugging him gently and comforting him but making no attempt to stem the flow of tears coming from his own eyes.

"How're you doing, little buddy?" asked the green hedgehog as he held Hip away from himself to take a better look at him. Hip gurgled and giggled in reply.

Manic chuckled and set Hip down in the basket again…and noticed a slip of paper folded between the side of the basket and the blankets.

"What's this?" he asked himself as his nimble fingers drew it carefully out. Unfolding it, he saw it was written in the neat hand of his mother. Excitedly, he began to read:

'My beloved children;

I am sorry I didn't bring Hip back to you sooner but, you see, it had been so long since I'd been in contact with, let alone raised, any young ones that I couldn't help but keep the baby around a while longer. It felt good to be able to cradle, feed and play with an infant again…just like the way I cared for you three before I had to part with you. It was almost as difficult to give him up as it was to give you up those many years ago. Nevertheless, here is Hip, safe and sound, happy and healthy. He is reunited with you now, just as you will be with me someday. Until then, keep you spirits up and never lose faith in me or each other.

Q.A.'

Smiling, Manic wiped away yet another tear. "(sniff)… Good old Mom."

"M-Ma-Man-n-nic."

The green hedgehog's eyes widened as his jaw came unhinged. He slowly looked down towards the baby in his basket. Manic didn't do anything but gawk at the blue infant for a few seconds.

"…Hip… D-d-did you j-just…talk!"

As if in reply, Hip held out his arms and stated with stuttering, "Manic!"

Again, Manic was like a statue. Then he whooped loudly and swept the laughing child up in his arms once more.

The commotion drew the attention of Sonia and Sonic, who came running. They were quite surprised to witness their brother practically dancing around, holding Hip high in the air.

After a minute or two, he noticed them and motioned them over. "Hey guys, Mom brought him back…and he can say my name too!"

"Really?" said Sonic. Grinning, he bent down to the babe's eye level. "Come on, say 'Sonic' next."

"No, say 'Sonia' instead!" demanded Sonia playfully.

"S-Son…Son…" stuttered the blue baby half-hedgehog cutely.

"Come on…!" chorused Sonia and Sonic, leaning in closer.

Hip stared at the two faces.

He opened his mouth widely.

Took a deep inhalation.

And promptly fell asleep in Manic's arms.

Sonia's mouth released a giggle while Sonic's mouth dropped wide open. "What? No fair! He just said his first word and all he can think of is sleeping?"

Manic chuckled as he placed Hip back in his basket. "Hey, who says that was his first word? He's been with Mom the past couple of weeks, you know."

Sonia giggled. "You're right… He might have even called her 'Mama'!"

They all snickered quietly at this possibility as they walked back to the buildings of Sanctuary with Hip in tow, the sound of laughing children steadily growing louder yet not disturbing the babe as he sucked his thumb and dreamt happily.

The End


End file.
